Three People Showed Up To The Anti-Beyonce Protest

The lack of attendance at the planned anti-Beyonceprotest yesterday has us asking a few questions: was the whole thing a hoax? Or was it just incredibly poorly planned? Were the anti-Beyonce people scared of retaliation? Was their commitment to fragile indignation over perceived "race baiting" not actually that strong? Or was it just the bad weather that scared them off?

See: the trouble started when some (white) people found themselves mistaking Beyonce's pro-black Superbowl performance for "hate speech." After an Event Brite listing for an anti-Beyonce protest was found, many people assumed that angry (white) people would show up to denounce Mrs. Carter for her politics.

It's hard to say what actually happened, but what we do know is that almost no one showed up for the intended demonstration.

Considering the two people that did show up weren't particularly good at answering questions, it doesn't look like we'll be getting too many responses about the protest-gone-awry any time soon. From NY Mag:

"The anti-Beyoncé protesters were late to their own event, which had about as many media outlets in attendance as both pro and anti-Beyoncé protesters ... There was only one for a long time — a middle-aged white guy wearing a New York Giants jacket and a newsboy cap, which sounds about right. He was soon joined by another dude named Ariel Kohane, who apparently heard a different song, because he believes "Formation" is a call for violence against the police. He said he is — surprise! — a volunteer for the Ted Cruz campaign. He was also quick to come up with a bunch of excuses as to why his anti-Beyoncé alliance was so few."

Shockingly, a third protestor eventually made her way to the rally: "I'm here because I have many cop friends," she said. "And I respect what they do, and people need to hear that they are loved. There are bad cops who need to be thrown in jail. But there are good cops as well."

Instead, droves of Beyonce supporters overtook some New York City sidewalks to peacefully demonstrate in favor of #BlackLivesMatter and other anti-racist sentiments. ""I have cop friends ... of all ethnicities," said Tajh Sutton, one of the pro-Beyonce supporters. "And I pray for them because I worry for them, especially my black cop friends. Because race permeates that sh*t, too. Have you heard about any white cops in the last five years getting indicted for the murder of a black person?"

"Once I kind of figured everything out, you know, with everything since the half at the Super Bowl and with law enforcement as a whole. I mean I think we’ve lost five to seven officers. Five deputy chairs since Sunday’s Super Bowl. You know that’s what I’m thinking, you know, here’s another target on law enforcement ... Well you have Beyoncé’s video and how that’s kind of bled over into other things it seems like about law enforcement."

Cops! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Hey, wait a second...